Means Over Ends: Why Agile is More Than Just Closing Tickets
In the world of Agile, one common pitfall is teams and organizations adopting the form of Agile—standups, sprints, retrospectives—without truly embedding its values. It’s like dressing up as a chef but never actually learning how to cook. You might look the part, but no one’s eating what you’re serving.
The Trap of ‘Pseudo-Agile’
Agile, when reduced to just hitting deadlines and closing tickets, becomes what I like to call pseudo-Agile. Teams end up working in a mechanical manner—churning out user stories and sprint goals—without any real focus on collaboration, customer value, or continuous improvement. The result? A disillusioned workforce that believes Agile is just another corporate buzzword.
Agile was never meant to be a rigid, check-the-box exercise. The Agile Manifesto is built on values and principles that guide how teams should think and operate. The process (Scrum, SAFe, Kanban, or anything else) is just a means to an end, not the end itself.
An Analogy from Culture: The Form vs. The Value
Let’s take an analogy from Indian culture. One of its core values is respect for elders. This value has different expressions, one of which is touching the feet of elders. Now, just because someone touches an elder’s feet doesn’t automatically mean they truly respect them. It could be mere ritual or social compulsion. On the flip side, if someone doesn’t do it, it doesn’t mean they lack respect.
The act of touching feet is just a means to express the value, not the value itself.
Similarly, Scrum is just a framework—a means to enable agility. But many teams mistake following Scrum’s rituals as being Agile. They focus on completing ceremonies rather than fostering collaboration, learning, and adaptability.
Agile Without Scrum? Yes, It’s Possible
Many organizations swear by Scrum because it provides structure and homogeneity at scale across an enterprise and industry. But agility doesn’t require Scrum. You can be Agile without it! In fact, the best Agile implementations aren’t necessarily off-the-shelf frameworks like Scrum or SAFe, but homegrown adaptations that evolve as teams mature.
A team that follows Agile in spirit may build a workflow that looks nothing like Scrum—but still prioritizes rapid feedback, adaptability, and delivering value to customers. And that’s perfectly fine. Because, in the end, Agile is about mindset first, framework second.
How to Break Out of the ‘Ends Over Means’ Mentality
So how can teams and organizations ensure that Agile is about the right things? Here are a few key steps:
- Shift Focus from Process to Principles – Agile isn’t about doing daily standups. It’s about fostering collaboration and ensuring transparency. If standups aren’t achieving that, it’s time to rethink them.
- Measure What Actually Matters – Instead of tracking ticket closures or velocity as a KPI, measure team satisfaction, learning, adaptability, and business value delivered.
- Encourage Customization – Agile is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Let teams tweak their process to fit their needs while staying true to Agile values.
- Educate Leadership – Many Agile transformations fail because leadership expects rigid adherence to a framework rather than a shift in thinking. Leadership buy-in on Agile values is crucial.
- Retrospect and Adapt – Agile isn’t about sticking to a process. It’s about continuously improving it. Teams should regularly question whether their practices serve their goals.
The Takeaway
Agile is not about how well you follow Scrum, SAFe, or any other framework. It’s about how well you embrace and implement Agile values. Closing tickets faster doesn’t make you Agile; building adaptable, empowered, and value-driven teams does.
So the next time someone asks, “Are we Agile?”—don’t count your standups. Instead, ask: Are we truly collaborating? Are we responding to change? Are we delivering value? If the answer is yes, congratulations—you’re Agile, regardless of what framework you follow.
And if the answer is no? Well, it’s time for a retrospective!
BIPIN WANCHOO 